The Americana aka Keylock in BJJ

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The Americana aka Keylock in BJJ

Lets have a conversation about The Americana aka Keylock in BJJ. Many believe the Americana aka Keylock in BJJ is the great under performer among the various submission holds of Jiu-Jitsu: The soul of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu resides in its submission holds. There are around fifteen to twenty families of submission holds, each with many many variations in technique and entries. These core submission holds are seen all the time in competition. The Arm bar, the triangle, the rear naked choke, the arm-triangle etc etc. are constantly seen successfully applied in all levels of competition in all weight divisions and all belt levels. There is however, one well known and foundational submission hold that has a truly miserable success rate. In fact, in the 30 years I am training, I cannot think of even a single example of it working successfully in black belt competition at the world championship level gi or no gi. I will go further and say I cannot even recall seeing it successfully applied in local tournaments above purple belt and personally I cannot remember ever seeing a black belt be submitted by it even in the gym. This must make it the single worst performing submission hold among the various foundational submissions in our sport, no? Most of the other submissions perform brilliantly, but the success rate of this one is an utter disaster. can you guess what it is? It is the Americana lock. The only example of it being used successfully that I can recall is a UFC 152 fight by Jon Jones on a badly battered and exhausted Vitor Belfort. That is the only time I have seen it in an MMA fight (and at that point Mr Jones could have submitted him with any lock he chose). This is very unusual, most core moves of the sport have excellent success rates. The American lock is unquestionably a core lock of the sport, taught often at beginner level around the world. In fact, it is usually one of the first submissions we learn and a staple of beginner classes everywhere, yet it scores so few victories that I would understand if an instructor simply stopped teaching it above white belt level. (although the keylock serves as a great set-up to attain the S-Mount position to attack choke and armlocks). Interestingly the American lock is actually very strong and potentially devastating once it is applied. Any type of 2 on 1 hold is. The failure is not mechanical, an American lock will break an arm just as surely as a kimura or armlock or any other (in fact I would argue that the breaking potential of a well applied American lock is superior to most other joint locks, it’s very strong when done well) So why the failure to be successfully applied in competition? If it’s not mechanical, the failure must reside in set-ups and entry and in ability to cope with resistance and counters. Do you think this great failure of the submission family can be rehabilitated? Can we improve our set ups to make this lock work in competition?
A man in white and black uniform on red mat.

The Americana aka Keylock in BJJ

You don’t always win in BJJ

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You don’t always win in BJJ

You don’t always win in BJJ. Just like in life, you do not always win in Jiu-Jitsu, and sometimes class can be very frustrating when we feel like we are not improving.
But we need this challenge as well; otherwise, how will we deal with the inevitable disappointments and set-backs we face in life?
Although jiu-jitsu is an art that allows smaller practitioners to win against larger, stronger opponents, sometimes things do not go our way.
In these situations, we learn to address our ego and improve our ability to handle adversity.
This develops the strength of our character and our patience.
Jiu-jitsu is not a straight uphill climb to black belt, but a series of improvements and plateaus.
It is during these plateaus in our progress that we work on our humility and patience. Without it, success is elusive – both in life and in jiu-jitsu.
Lessons like this are taught ever day at Savarese BJJ Academy (northnjbjj.com)

Multi-Tasking in BJJ

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Multi-Tasking in BJJ

Multi-Tasking in BJJ is a skill that must be learned over time. As much as we value focus in Jiu-Jitsu it should be quite clear to you that there is a strong demand in many situations in BJJ for you to work on several different tasks at the same time if you are to be successful. In the case of the back position, you must be able at a minimum to satisfy the basic demand to maintain the overall position, while at the same time working diligently to actually attack. In practice, and especially when utilizing the back system methodology that we employ, we have to simultaneously work to hold position and also battle through our opponent’s hands to set up strangle attacks. As you gain in sophistication you will add more and more tasks into the equation, like a battle for head position, for left vs right side etc etc. You must master the skills of prioritizing the tasks (position generally takes priority) and of working in two or more at the same time. Here, our Savarese BJJ Academy (www.northnjbjj.com) student Maverick does a fine job of working control of his opponents hips with his legs to stay aligned and keeping head on opposite side of his strangle arm to exert strong control from head to hips. While all this is going on he is engaged in a sharp hand fight with his opponent. This is exactly the kind of practice you must engage in to master this critical aspect of the sport. Multi tasking at the office is one thing – but doing it preserve yourself from a powerful strangle is quite another!

Two people are practicing jiu jitsu on a mat.

Multi-Tasking in BJJ

Problem in the application of BJJ submission holds

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Problem in the application of BJJ submission holds

A common problem in the application of BJJ submission holds is the tendency most people have to attempt the move before they have the preconditions necessary for the success of the move set in place. Get everything in place first, then go. Any given submission has a set of preconditions that will make it work. Failing to establish these prior to attempting the actual is asking for failure. You must learn the preconditions for your favorite submissions and have the diligence and patience to set them in place first and only then apply the submission. This will help you in two important ways. The first is physical. When the preconditions are well set your physical performance of the submission will be much cleaner and tighter. The second is psychological. When the preconditions are well set you will enter into the submission with much greater verve and confidence and display the commitment necessary for submission holds at high levels. Look at how our Savarese BJJ Academy student (www.northnjbjj.com) Ariana has established perfect head, wrist, elbow and leg positioning before she committed to falling into a bottom position high elbow guillotine. She can fall into the move with full confidence knowing that everything is in place before she enters. Know what you need PRIOR to entering your favorite submissions. Then watch your confidence steeply rise as you enter and enjoy your increased success afterwards.

Preservation in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

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Preservation in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Preservation in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of the key components to reaching blackbelt. Here are some more tidbits about Preservation in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. If you can preserve your BALANCE, then you can see and react well to every threat and at a moment’s notice launch your own attacks. If you can preserve your COMPOSURE then you can make good decisions even under stress. If you can preserve your BREATHING you can outlast an opponent who matches you in skill and strength. Keep your balance, your composure and your breathing under control whilst denying them to your opponent and you’ll find victory far more often than not. In addition, preserving your BODY is also very important. When your body is screaming for a rest, give it a rest. If you are injured, take some time off. Just go to class and watch. In that case, you are still training your mind. Sometimes, you can learn more from watching than training. Preserving your mind is also important, you cannot let your ego get the best of you during training. The goal has to be growth and acquiring skill and to do that, you have to fail first. Do not be scared to fail. The only way to succeed is by failing first. there is no success without failure. These lessons are taught daily at Savarese BJJ (www.bjjlyndhurst.com). If you practice and master these keys to preservation, you will continue to improve little by little, day by day, month by month, year by year. Remember, you only need to be better than you were the day before, strive to be 1% better than you were yesterday. If your goal is to be a blackbelt someday, heed this advice. Best of luck on your BJJ journey, we are pulling for you!

2 main approaches to a BJJ match

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2 main approaches to a BJJ match

There are 2 main approaches to a BJJ match. The two ways are proactive and reactive approaches. Whenever you go out to battle an opponent there are two main approaches you can take with the application of whatever technique and skills you bring to the match. The first is a PROACTIVE approach where you look to initiate the moves and deliberately push the action towards what you want to do. The second is a REACTIVE approach where you let your opponent initiate and you take advantage of any opening created by your opponent’s attack to counter and get the breakthrough. Each method will always have its advocates. As a general rule proactive methods tend to do better in encounters with a short time limit whilst reactive methods tend to do better in longer encounters. However, it will greatly benefit your development to work hard developing your skills in both approaches. This immediately doubles the number of attacks you make in a given time frame and makes you much less predictable in your attack patterns. Here you can see our Savarese BJJ Academy (www.bjjlyndhurst.com) student Nate approach an opponent. His focused look clearly shows he has an initial proactive goal which he will work hard to enforce upon his foe, but he will also have the creativity to read his opponent’s attacks as he gets close and be ready to go into his reactive counters as well. As much as it’s a good thing to focus on what you want to achieve, remember always that there are two people in a bout and it pays to be able to attack off the actions of both people rather than just one.

The art of showing up to BJJ class

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The art of showing up to BJJ class

MASTER THE ART OF SHOWING UP…
Recently a student asked how they can improve their skills. Without hesitation, I go into my long-winded answer covering all these specific situations; then, I see the eyes glaze over (which is a conversation for another day) so I just end up saying, you need to master the art of showing up. It always comes back to consistency. Of course, skill development will depend on where you are on your journey. But, first you should be striving to master the art of showing up regardless of how you “feel.†This way you will be able to scale your skill acquisition as your journey continues. In other words, stop worrying about the moves you forget, can’t do, or the people that give you a hard time. NONE OF IT MATTERS unless your consistency is rock-solid.
Understand this: You can’t consistently improve jiu-jitsu skills with inconsistent training, period. Lay down your foundation first. This foundation should be unrelenting non-negotiable consistency. Once your base is set, now start organizing your training and focus on the areas you’d like to improve.
Personally, there is nothing special that separates me from other people when it comes to anything that I choose to pursue. However, the one thing I have going for me is that I don’t miss workouts or training sessions, ever. You can control your consistency and I treat it like a superpower. Once mastered, you can then leverage it and reach new levels of improvement. If I choose to learn something new, establishing strong consistency is always my first step. Until then, I keep my mouth shut. There is no complaining, no rationalizing situations to make myself feel better, and no comparing myself to others. I accept that there is a process and I DO NOT get emotional about the time it takes to get good.
Don’t overthink when it comes to establishing your consistency base. Some easy steps are:
1. Have your gear ready to go, the day before.
2. Master the warm-ups.
3. Pick one day that is non-negotiable.
4. Keep feelings/frustrations out of it.
5. Actually absorb what instructor is saying by using eye contact and good body language.
6. Keep your expectations in check and accept that is takes time and you’re not special.
After this, scale. Until you have mastered the art of showing up, no answer I give you related to getting better at Jiu-Jitsu will work or help, period. It’s easy to feel out of place or frustrated in our social media driven culture that depicts the highest level our art of grinding day in and day out, 3 a day training sessions and other BS (steroids) Don’t forget, journeys don’t begin this way and if they started to show the early stages of all these, now, superstars it wouldn’t get any eyeballs because there is nothing special and it’s “not impressive.†This can be great for entertainment and fuel for motivation, but is not the norm. Just show up and when you see your lifestyle shift to one of consistently showing up every week, regardless of circumstance, you can then improve linearly and monitor/measure your progress much easier. Then, when you do ask questions you can actually apply the answers. See you on the mats.
Written by Savarese BJJ Academy (www.njbjj.com) blackbelt Professor Chris Laciura (www.training4life.com)
Two men in white uniforms standing next to each other.

Being prepared for trouble in BJJ

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Being prepared for trouble in BJJ

Being prepared for trouble in BJJ is a necessary skill. You must always be prepared for any situation that can be problematic. In Jiu-Jitsu we always train ourselves to find the best routes to the best outcomes. However, the reality is that your opponents are doing the same thing and many of those opponents are very talented. As such, it’s always prudent to prepare yourself for trouble, including the worst kinds of trouble. Getting out of fully locked in joint locks is probably the scariest situation in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu because the price of failure in a competitive match can be a broken limb. Getting the confidence to escape from these scenarios has to begin in the gym. As always, start with lowered pressure so that you can build over time to escape from increasingly tight holds. Make sure your partner understands the difference between extension of a limb and hyperextension, so that they can create a tension that gives realism but no damage if you don’t perform the escape moves quite correctly. Learning to keep a calm mind during a crises is half the battle of extricating yourself. Fear doesn’t make your escapes better, only skill does that. Here one of our Savarese BJJ Academy (www.bergencounty.com), is prepared for the trouble and defends the armlock against her with a skillful escape.

Opportunity and Emotion in BJJ

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Opportunity and Emotion in BJJ

Opportunity and Emotion in BJJ often go hand in hand in Jiu-Jitsu. When opportunity knocks, it’s time to break down the door. In a match against a tough opponent, you may be presented with only one opportunity to make a decisive attack. Whether you do so successfully will come down mostly to two things, your ability to PULL THE TRIGGER when the moment arises and your ability to EXECUTE the move you have selected. The first is more psychological in nature and pertains to your confidence levels. The second is more physical in nature and pertains to your skill level. To shine under pressure you’ll need both to work in harmony. Emotion can be a tricky thing. This game is about decision making and calculating risk and reward. Emotion doesn’t help decision making and calculation. I find most people do their best work in a calm and emotionless state. It’s sometimes difficult to achieve this in the pressure of competition but you don’t have to be perfect,- just better than the other person you are competing against. And often, if you can make your opponent emotional, you can have a great advantage. The time for emotion is after the performance, then you can let out whatever you were holding back! Here, our Savarese BJJ (www.njbjj.com) student Brian lets out some emotion AFTER a big win at the World BJJ Championships.

The beauty of the triangle in BJJ

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The beauty of the triangle in BJJ

The beauty of the triangle in BJJ cannot be undersold. In addition, it is probably one of the most important finishing holds to learn in BJJ. At our Academy, Savarese BJJ (www.bergencountybjj.com), it is taught to you almost every class through your first 3 months of training. Furthermore, here are some more remarkable properties of the triangle. The triangle is among the most impressive moves in all of Jiu-Jitsu. It has many manifestations and variations. One of the best and most unique features is that it is capable of being used as both a choke and a joint lock at the same time. Usually we are given a choice when we go for a submission, it’s either a choke or a joint lock, the submission lets us have our cake and eat it too! Not only does it give us a choice, we can use the treat of one to set up the other. For example, in a front triangle shown here, the general rule is that the closer my opponents head to my head, the easier the choke. The further his head moves away, the easier the armlock. Triangles allow us to use several different types of joint locks without releasing the chokehold, creating real danger for the opponent. Learn to use this unusual dual submission threat of the various triangle variations to get your submission percentages rising! Often, many larger new practitioners will have trouble finishing a triangle choke. Don’t fret, you are just not used to moving your hip correctly and making the correct angle. This will come over time on the mats. As you gain more experience, you will start to understand the angles for finishing this choke better and see the value and the beauty of the triangle in our great art.